ESPN Goes "On Tilt"

Teddy KGB: "Position raise. I call it."

Teddy KGB: "Lays down a monster. [Why] did you lay that down?"

Teddy KGB, the Russian card player and gangster played by John Malkovich in the 1998 movie Rounders, is perhaps the most oft-quoted character in card rooms and home poker games around the world. And the one thing that all card players have in common is that they've seen the movie at least a dozen times, and they probably own the DVD as well. If a card player spouts off the most obscure line from the movie, half of the other people at the table will recognize it.

It's 2005, and poker's popularity is at new heights. An estimated 70 million Americans now play the game; it's time for a new set of quotes.

This Thursday night at nine, Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN will debut Tilt, a new poker drama from the writers of Rounders. The story is set the week before the World Championships at the fictional Colorado Casino in Las Vegas, when three young professional gamblers -- all seeking revenge for one reason or another -- team up to take down Don "The Matador" Everest. According to the show's website, The Matador is thought to be the "king of the table" and "the most influential man in poker"; however, his game apparently may not quite be on the up-and-up.

Tilt is the latest attempt to capitalize on the fact that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) is by far the biggest event in poker. This past summer, ESPN squeezed every last ounce of value out of the 2004 WSOP by televising almost every single tournament of the month-long event in weekly episodes (see "Playing on Poker's Draw"). Tilt is a natural extension of ESPN's poker brand, and builds on ESPN's experience with fictional dramas based on sports, namely the hit pro football series Playmakers.

Casino operator Harrah's Entertainment (NYSE: HET), which bought the rights to the World Series last winter, has used the WSOP has a brand builder and a competitive weapon by offering monthly tournaments at several of its properties, where first place is a seat at the $10,000 buy-in championship event at the World Series this summer (see "Milking the World Series of Poker").

In addition to ESPN and Harrah's, the boom in poker's popularity sparked by the WSOP and the World Poker Tour has been a boon to a wide variety of gaming companies. Card rooms across the country have seen poker play increase dramatically, providing a small benefit to casino operators such as MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGG), Station Casinos (NYSE: STN), and riverboat casino operator Ameristar Casinos (Nasdaq: ASCA). Where poker rooms were once being eliminated at some casinos because of lack of demand and profitability just a few years ago, these very same casinos are rushing to bring them back. As a result, Shuffle Master's (Nasdaq: SHFL) Deck Mate shufflers are also now in higher demand (see "Shuffle Master Shuffles On").

Meanwhile, more direct poker plays have seen their stocks surge, though not necessarily with the numbers to support it just yet. World Poker Tour Entertainment (Nasdaq: WPTE) -- ESPN's main competitor and co-promoter of poker -- has seen its stock virtually double since its IPO this past August (see "Buy the World Poker Tour?"). At the same time, the stock of WPTE's main shareholder, Lakes Entertainment (Nasdaq: LACO), has also almost doubled in price since we began talking about it this time last year (see "Betting the World Poker Tour").

There's no doubt that poker's popularity has been great for a lot of companies, and ESPN is set to expand its command of the poker world while about 70 million Americans eagerly anticipate Tilt's debut on Thursday night.

Shuffle Master is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation.

Fool contributor Jeff Hwang owns shares of Ameristar Casinos.